Portable electronic devices are popular devices used by individuals to track and store data, manage information, and communicate with other electronic devices. Examples of portable electronic devices include personal display adapters, cellular telephones, wireless communication devices, digital and analog data and voice recorders, sensors, pagers, watches, video display devices, audio devices, digital cameras, video recorders, or any other portable electronic device.
As with most electronic devices in use today there exist a wide array of available accessories to enhance the electronic device. By way of example, for a cellular telephone the available accessories may include, but are not limited to, a speaker phone system for an automobile, a hands free ear piece, a car adapter battery charger, a charging cradle, or an interface module for interfacing the telephone with other electronic devices. As is understood, it is necessary for the electronic apparatus of the telephone to interface with the accessory. Such interface is often controlled by software that instructs the telephone how to interface with the accessory.
In systems of the prior art the electronic device stored the software that controls interaction between the electronic device and the accessory. This presents many drawbacks which the methods and apparatus disclosed herein overcome. One such drawback is that the telephone has a limited amount of memory and is hence limited in the amount of data that can be stored. Hence, the cost of each telephone increases as a result of additional memory in each telephone or, if memory is minimized, the amount of information that can be stored in the telephone is limited. Both of these options are considered undesirable.
Another drawback of systems of the prior art arises as a result of the timing of when a user obtains a telephone and when a user obtains an accessory. In systems of the prior art, the telephone stored all the information necessary for interaction with an accessory. As a result, the data that oversaw accessory operation was stored in the phone at the time the phone leaves the manufacturing plant or when the phone is sold. Consequently, if the data for an accessory changed or if a new accessory with new data was released after purchase of the telephone the telephone will not contain the new data. As a result, the accessory may not be operable with the telephone or the telephone may have to use a generic or default data which may provide poor performance. Some accessories require complex filter control data and thus, failure to utilize an up to date data during accessory interaction is a considerable drawback.
Yet another drawback that arises from storing data on the telephone is that the telephone release date may be delayed while the accessory data is created and tested. As can be understood, a delay in the release date may result in substantial lost profits and a reduction in market share.
Yet another drawback of electronic devices of the prior art is difficulty in determining when an accessory is attached and determining how to interact with an accessory. As can be understood, one aspect of accessory interaction comprises determining when to initiate an interaction process and which interaction process to initiate.
As with most electronic device in use today there exist a wide array of available accessories to enhance the electronic device. By way of example, for a cellular telephone the available accessories may include, but are not limited to, a speaker phone system for an automobile, a hands free ear piece, a car adapter battery charger, a charging cradle, or an interface module for interfacing the telephone with other electronic devices. As is understood, for the electronic apparatus to successfully operate with the cellular telephone, some form of interface between the accessory and the telephone is necessary. The interface, which may comprise a hardware system, is often controlled or assisted by software that instructs the telephone how to interface with the accessory. At other times data was passed to the accessory from the telephone during operation.
Systems of the prior art utilized a digital interface between the telephone and the accessory for exchange of voice data or upload of accessory data from the telephone to the accessory The accessory data traveled on the same channel between the accessory and the telephone as was used for exchange of voice information. This presented many problems and drawbacks. One such drawback of using a shared channel is that the channel was often bandwidth limited. Hence, the channel's limited capacity prevented the free exchange of data from the telephone to the accessory to control the interface. Another drawback was that channel conflicts, between the voice information and the interface data, could arise. These conflict prevented desired operation.
Another drawback of prior art systems is their high cost. The prior art method and apparatus used to detect the type of accessory attached to the electronic device required expensive and complex hardware and software detection systems. This cost, when multiplied by a large number of telephones, undesirably reduces profits or increases the cost to the consumer of the electronic device.
Yet another drawback of the prior art accessory detection is that a user's ability to hot-swap an accessory may be limited. In some prior art wireless communication devices a single channel was utilized for both accessory interface and voice communication. Thus, in the case of a wireless communication device the user may not be able to remove the wireless device from an automobile speaker phone system and continue the call with a earphone system after leaving the car. This is an example of a hot-swap operation. An inability to perform a hot-swap operation can be considered a major disadvantage and limit the intended purpose of a portable communication device.
Thus, there exists a need for a method and apparatus to overcome these drawbacks in the prior art. The method and apparatus disclosed herein overcomes these drawbacks.